Local TV coming soon to a phone near you
Just in case you needed something else to do with your wireless device–soon you can watch real-time local TV.
According to the NY Times a group called the Open Mobile Video Coalition is working on a standard that will let TV stations use some of the new frequencies given for high-definition broadcasts to be used for wireless devices. Called Mobile DTV, the service will be available for devices such as in-car screens, portable DVD players and mobile phones
Five Washington-area station participated in a demonstration and will be conducting a trial for the services over the next few months. Programming choices will also include live emergency alerts, local news and sports and other interactive services still in development.
Currently a similar technology is available in Asia, but not yet in America. Your current phone won’t work with this technology, but a whole new generation of devices is being developed.
Falling Flat Screen TVs a Danger for Young Kids
There has been a 41 percent increase in injuries from tipping furniture since 1990 and much of the blame is going to the popularity of flat screen TVs. According to the study:
Injuries from televisions alone accounted for nearly half of all injuries related to falling furniture during the study period — 47 percent.
The danger with televisions is that often they have narrow centers of gravity and can have small bases. Take steps to appropriately secure your flat screen to avoid danger to your children. For instructions on hanging your flat panel HDTV, read more here.
Consumer Reports also offers advice for securing your flat panel such as purchasing the appropriate base for you model, ensuring the furniture you set the tv on does not have drawers and is stable, and securing furniture that is holding the television.
Now’s the time to shop Circuit City
Since Circuit City went bankrupt in January, more than 500 of its stores have been selling away–more than $1 billion in inventory. But now, the real deals begin.
Liquidators announced late last week that more price cuts are being made, which means you have a small window of opportunity to get any selection and a good deal. If you wait until the last days, there will be nothing left but what you didn’t want in the first place. To a large extent that is probably already true, but they are just now starting the real wheelin-and-dealin.
The company handling the sale said that more than 272,700 flat screen TVs in all brands and sizes have been sold over the past month, as well as more than 53,800 home theater systems.
Other categories of products that have sold well include: digital cameras (266,600 sold to date), notebook computers (79,100), desktop computers (38,700), computer printers (143,900), camcorders (62,300), GPS devices (92,700) and car audio speakers (88,100).
CIrcuit City’s distribution centers are now empty so all that is left is what is in stores.
I saw commercials last week advertising 30% off of many items. That number is sure to increase but selection will go down. Also, remember that you are buying from a bankrupt store so don’t expect any customer service although individual manufacturers will likely honor their warranties (be sure to find out before you make a major $$ purchase!)
Happy hunting!
Where No Network Has Gone Before…
All of a sudden, all sorts of electronics need to access the internet and they are nowhere near my network. I didn’t hard-wire my living room for ethernet. My media pc is wireless and I never foresaw the need. Now I need multiple net connections and I don’t want to tear the walls open again.
First - here’s why I suddenly need new network connections:
My DirecTV dvr downloads “on demand” programming over the internet and needs a high-speed connecion using an ethernet cable. Of course, even though it has a USB port, it won’t take a USB wireless adapter. (By the way, a quick note to the folks at DirecTV - “on demand” means “give it to me when I ask for it”. It doesn’t mean “give it to me after I ask for it, put it in the queue and download it to my dvr”.)
I’m shopping for a new Blu-Ray player. I’d waited out the format wars and the first generation technical glitches, but I’m ready. Quite a few of the newer models have network jacks to enable firmware upgrades directly from the internet - a pretty good idea, so I’d like to be able to take advantage.
I’m also looking at adding a Slingbox to the mix. It’s not that I have a driving need to access my dvr while I’m on vacation. I’ve got a close friend whose job has taken him to Asia for the next 3 years, and he’s jonesing for his Florida Gators and his favorite TV shows as the new season begins. I figured a Slingbox help him stay in touch. And of course a Slingbox will require a connection to the Internet.
So I went looking for a solution that would bring the network to my living room at a minimal cost and with minimal effort. My first thought was a concept I’d been making fun of for ages - powerline networking. Quite simply, a powerline network has (at least) 2 adapters that you plug into an electrical outlet. One gets plugged in near the router and connects to the router with an ethernet cable. The second adapter gets plugged in (in my case) to an outlet in the living room, near my home theater equipment. Again, from there, ethernet cables connect the devices to the adapter. The model I bought had jacks for 4 simultaneous connections. Score! Yeah. Right…
A few problems. The manufacturer warns against using power strips, surge protectors, extension cords, etc. There isn’t an empty wal socket within 30 feet. But I juggled and daisy-chained until I could free one up. Unfortunately, the circuit that my home thearter is on has been split, fragmented and expanded so often that getting a network connection to that wall was never going to happen. But I’ll keep the adapters. When my refrigerator requires net access, this will be an elegant solution.
Next stop was to go wireless. There are a variety of wireless bridges out there and their function is exactly what I needed. The bridge grabs the wireless signal and lets you connect a through an ethernet cable. The problem was that every one I looked at had one output and I wanted to connect at least 3 devices. I considered adding a router that would connect to the bridge and then distribute, but that seemed wasteful. There had to be a better way. And then I found it - The D-Link DAP1522 4-Port GigaBit Wireless Bridge/Access Point, a handy little device that lets me connect up to 4 devices to my wireless network. So my 3 new toys will get their access and I still have room for one more, if my couch ever needsthe Internet.
Olympic-sized coverage
I remember watching Lionel RIchie perform at the 1984 L.A. Olympics closing ceremony. I saw it on an old television with rabbit ears. In contrast, this Olympiad offers unparalleled coverage with more than 2900 hours of programming on multiple networks, web and mobile, many of them in HD.
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NBC Universal has broadcast many of the last few Olympiads and its coverage gets broader and grander each time. This year there are more viewing options than ever before. In fact, this year’s coverage if greater than all the previous summer Olympics combined.
If you have HDTV, you can watch via Universal HD. In addition, some areas are offering a special basketball-only channel and soccer-only channel. Ah the beauty of HD. Past games offered a handful of events broadcast in HD, but this year’s games will be totally shot and broadcast in HD (for those with reception).
So with all this coverage, there is even more chance to see your favorite inspirational stories (my favorite part!), live finales, and all your favorite sports, however obscure or more obscure.
With TIVO or DVR you can program your recorder to capture every possible moment of your favorite events.
If you can’t wait to be home to watch on your t.v., this year’s Olympics also offer unprecedented mobile coverage. You can get alerts, check out the website, view live TV or see video all from your mobile device.
I know where I’ll be every night.
Despi-cable
I need to rant about my recent adventures with my cable company. I now truly understand why cable companies need to be a monopoly in any given market: if they had any competiion, my cable company wouldn’t have a single customer left. Out of deference to the folks at Digital Landing (who do business with my cable provider) I won’t name names, but our story begins on a rainy spring day…
With the coming of the rainy season in Florida came the horrifying realization that my broadband internet connection died every time it rained. And some of my premium and HD channels began to randomly disappear. I called my cable company, went through the standard round of idiocy:
“Unplug your modem, shot down your computer, re-start the modem, restart the computer.” “I did that already before I called you.” “I’ll need you to do it again, sir.” Followed by “Hmm, I don’t see your modem online. There must be a problem. We can have technician there in 4 days” ARRRGGHHH! Fortunately I have a backup DSL line, so I waited…
By the time the technician arrived, the service had mysteriously restored, but after checking my wiring and signal strength I was told that the problem was with the outside cable coming into the house, which of course required a different technician. Two weeks and numerous rainy outages later, the outside problem wasn’t resolved. So I called customer service and insisted on escalating. I’m pretty sure that when they put you on hold whle they get a supervisor, the rep turns to the guy next to him and says “Hey, Joe - I got another loser who needs to bitch. Wanna pretend to be a supervisor?” My chat with the supervisor accomplished nothing and I asked for the next level. This is when it gets fun…
The next level of support is called “The Office of the President”. Seriously. That’s how they answer the phone. Boy, that made me feel important! Now, let me give you a little perspective - I subscribe to every premium channel available (yes, I really need 72 HBO channels) in addition to their fastest Internet service, all of which results in a monthly bill over $200. So I’m not the kind of customer they want to lose. But since I also have DirecTV (for football, it’s a necessity) and that backup DSL, I’m also in the position where dumping my cable would be pretty easy. So I thought I as in a pretty good negotiating position.
I explained my problem to a representative of the Office of the President and she was very sympathetic. 15 minutes later, the ocal service manager called me and within an hour a technician was at my house, with orders to make me happy. Nd he tried - I gotta tell you. The guy spent 6 hours rewiring everything in my house, and then told me I had a weak signal and they need to replace the cable coming into my house, which of course required a different technician. Deja vu all over again.
Four weeks later, still no resolution, and according to the Office of the President, my issue had been marked “resolved”, a mistake I was eager to correct. The same tech came back again, astonished that nothing else was done. So he took it upon himself to run a new cable to the house (although someone else would have to come bury it). The cable ran to the main box which is in a neighbor’s yard. Suddenly I had all my channels and a markedly improved internet connection. Three hours later, of course after business hours, I lost cable service completely. I went in my yard and found that my new cable wasn’t connected to anything.
The next morning I called the Office of the President (I REALLY like saying that!) and asked if Ashton Kutscher was setting me up for an episode of Punk’d. 2 hours later, new guys come to re-connect the cable. 2 hours later after that, cable is gone again and I was on the phone with the Office of the President. I ran out for a few minutes and when I returned, the cable truck was in front of my house. As I got out of my car, he drove away, so I thought my problem had been solved, but I still had no service. Guess who I called…
The cable guy returned an hour later and told me that while I did indeed need that new cable, the last outages had new wrinkle: the neighbor (whose yard is adjacent to mine but actually lives one block over) had his own gripes with the cable company and had expressed his displeasure by rpping all the wires out of the ain junction box. When they’d been repaired, he ripped them out again. And so the cable guys had to call the police, who in turn told the neighbor that if he touched the wires again, he’d be in jail.
So no I have new cables inside my house and outside. The outside ones have been buried. I have a brand new modem. Everything seems to be going fine. But tonight’s forecast calls for rain…
“Lost” My Mind
For me, following a show like “Lost” is an addiction. And the Internet has been a huge part of that. The Lost folks figured out pretty early on that their fan base was pretty web-savvy and they used it brilliantly to engage new fans and keep the devoted ones buzzing even in the off season.
Bogus commercials on TV for the Hanso Foundation led to websites that held clues to the mysterious Dharma Initiative. “Official” sites ranged from the website for Oceanic Air, the airline that the castaways were flying when they crashed to Find815.com - a site supposedly about one man’s search for his girlfriend who was on the doomed flight. BTW - as an example of how well the ABC folks targeted the “geek” market, the URL for Find815.com was placed in the background of certain Marvel comic books.
The fan population is pretty active online, as well. There are hundreds of sites devoted to studying and discussing the minutae of every episode. Fans take screen captures from their HDTV DVR to analyze background details like newspaper articles that the characters are reading (and, for the record, the producers are pretty meticulous about those tiny details being accurate, so the fans aren’t as crazy as it sounds). They try to figure out the meaning behind characters that are named after dead philosophers, discuss the symbolism of Jack tripping over a Star wars toy and constantly evolve their theories about what the show is really about.
I’m sure the fan forums will spend the entire summer analyzing every detail of the season finale, which really was awesome! And while I hate “spoilers” (people who insist on publishing important plot points and ruin the suspense for everybody), I do love to check in and see what the conspiracy theorists and obsessive fans come up with next.
7 Remote Controls - And Yes, I Need Them All
It’s true - I have 7 seperate remote controls in my living room, and I’m pretty sure I need all of them. As far as I’ve been able to determine, there really is no such thing as a “universal remote control”. I have to admit, there are the really high end remotes that claim to really be universal, and some even claim to “learn”, but even a gadget freak like me can’t justify paying more for the remote than I paid for most of the devices it would control.
Why do I need 7 remotes? I guess we need to start with a quick snapshot of my living room tech:
- TV: I have a 60 inch Sony LCD-projection HDTV. Above it are mounted 2 32-inch flatscreen HDTV’s. I know it sounds like a lot of TV, but if you drop by on Sunday during football season, you’d understand. I once described this setup to a female friend who suggested that it would be cheaper to just hang a neon sign that says “I don’t ever plan on getting married”, but until she gets married herself, her opinions are suspect.
- Surround-sound home theater audio system, of course
- Up-converting DVD player - I have so much invested in my DVD collection that I’m scared to upgrade to Blu-Ray, because when I do, I’ll have to fight the urge to replace hundreds of standard DVD’s.
- Media PC - I’ve already outlined the genesis of this particular toy.
- 3 HD DirecTV receivers - they’re the only way I can get every football game every week
- Cable TV DVR - Even with satellite, I like cable. I like on-demand. I want to hedge my bets against thunderstorms knocking out satellite (a real issue in Florida).
- HDMI Switch - The Sony only has one HDMI input, and I want to use HDMI for satellite, DVD and PC input. (My cable DVR won’t work with the HDMI switch due to some overzealous copy-protection)
Let’s put aside the snide comments about my OCD for a moment and get back to the remotes…
Even though 3 other remotes (sound system, cable, satellite) would all turn the Sony on, none of them can toggle through the video sources. Same thing for the Westinghouse remote for the 32’s. I could probably lose the DVD remote and control it through the home theater, but with the manual long gone, so are the codes. The PC doesn’t have remotes, unless you count the Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. Nothing can replace the DVR or satellite remotes (but at least 1 use 1 satellite remote, not 3) and the HDMI switch has a one-button remote to change sources that no other remote can replicate.
So there we are. I know what each one does and I’m OK with it. My friends have trouble figuring it all out, but their teenage kids have no issues at all. And for some reason, I take solace in that.
Oh - by the way, iTunes sucks. Somebody tell Steve J…
Digital Music
I have a huge digital music collection. When I say huge, I’m talking about over 120 gigs of music - close to 30,000 songs. (And for you record execs out there - it’s all legal, as the many cartons of CD’s in my garage can attest to) I consume digital music in every imaginable way. As I write this, I’m listening to a playlist of songs on my computer. I have an iPod Shuffle for the gym - the old one that looks like a pack of gum. My 80gb iPod is bursting at the seams with music and videos. (One day soon, I’ll tell you and Steve Jobs why iTunes sucks.) One of my cars has a 6 disc changer filled with mixed CD’s I burned, while the other plays mp3 CD’s.
The one sticking point has always been my home audio system. I wanted to be able to play my digital music without having to burn it to CD’s. It seemed like a wasted step and certainly limited the way I could access and play the music I wanted to hear. And then came the first wave of wireless media players - home audio components that accessed your computer over your wi-fi network. Score! Or so I thought…
My first entry to this was the D-Link DSM 320. I installed the software on my PC. Got the player configured on my network. And then started importing the music library into the “database”. It choked on the size of the library. I scaled back and decided to just import my list of playlists. It had a nice feature that imported all the listed songs when you imported a playlist. That worked fine until I added the playlist that pushed me back over the limit. They finally released a software update that resolved that. Connectivity, though, was always a 50-50 proposition at best, and when they released firmware that would have fixed that, my unit refused to upgrade and D-link’s tech support couldn’t help.
Then I saw the Go Video Wireless Media/DVD player, which seemed pretty cool during the month that it worked. Then it refused to connect to the network (and GoVideo has no real support) At least it played DVD’s for another few months - just enough for the warranty to run out.
It was time to give up. If I wanted digital music (and video, etc) on my home entertainment system, there was only one reliable way to get it there. I bought a cheap low-profile PC (kind of like this one) that would fit in the console like an audio component - upgraded the sound and video cards, plugged the video into the dvi input of my HDTV, audio into the receiver, and FINALLY got what I wanted. Plus, now I have high-speed internet on the home theater system and can surf the web and show streaming video on my HDTV. And some of it (like ABC’s HD streams of Lost) actually look great on the big screen. But we’ll get to that…
